Chapter IV
Unknown Origins
An ancient priestess and her powers seem very real. The thought alone makes his brows raise in puzzlement and discomfort upon remembering their first meet. He shakes those thoughts away, focusing on important questions:
"That man… He could have killed me, then why did he challenge me to a duel? How did he even know I could duel?"
"Master of duels know each other, they have an unique presence because they hold souls of the spirits who fight for them. And it's one of the most ancient rules of my people that if two masters of duels meet in a life or death situation, they must engage in a duel to decide the outcome. The winner takes everything, the loser gives their soul to the gods."
"This is exquisite. Why would he follow rules if accomplishing something would have been simpler had he just fought me normally?"
"Because it's a rule that has been followed for aeons, no one would dare to break it. My people believe true warriors arise from those situations and masters of duels are valuable. All the executors and guards of the great Pharaoh know how to duel… I am not a warrior and many of my people aren't either… That is how we do not stand a chance…"
"Are you saying you would've died had a rule like that not existed? He'd just take you away and kill you like that?"
His eyes squint in revulsion with the thought alone, she lowers her gaze in sorrow, nodding, but soon a smile comes to her lips.
"That is why Ed is special. Masters of duels are respected and have their own rules."
"That doesn't sound very great if you ask me…"
He sighs taking another look at her, his mind drifting into thoughts. He doesn't know what to make of her world, they have stone tablets, assassins, duelists, and supposedly the duelists are cards of duel monsters which she calls her "people". Does that even make sense? His head hurts.
She just stands there smiling as if nothing happened. It seems duels deciding life and death are a common occurrence for her to be this calm, but again, where does she really come from? He recollects their first meeting in order, the pillar of light, how she came from the forest and… He gapes for a moment, noticing something else.
"There is also something else I'd like to ask..." he coughs to clear his throat "When we first met, you told me you were giving me a blessing… When you..."
He stops, his mouth curved down in grumpiness, she instantly bows down in apology, nervously speaking in a very fast pace:
"I-I am sorry, mas… Ed! I must bless someone by sending my powers as a protective charm to them."
"Is it really necessary to kiss the said person?" he feels revulsion with the idea "Couldn't you just use words or is that what they taught you in your priestess training?"
She is struck by some sort of realization after his words and putting a hand to her cheek, her eyes go up to the ceiling as she remembers the past.
"I never thought much about it… Indeed I first learned it in the temple by casting my powers upon the person by stretching my hands towards them… However, when I once went to bless one of the guards under orders, they told me I needed to do it properly and pointed at their cheeks. I didn't know I had to touch people with my lips for that until them. Is it something bad in your world? Is that why Ed is so bothered?"
"Who wouldn't be bothered by someone unknown kissi…" he stops in the middle of the way, as she stares perplexed at him. "You… You don't get it, do you?" He risks the question, almost afraid of it.
She answers with a shake of head and a cheerful smile. He doesn't know if he is more shocked by the fact she is so naive and it is so obvious the guards just took advantage of her, or that she is unaware of what a kiss to the lips implies.
She doesn't seem to notice it and just smiles innocently. With a deep sigh, a hint of disgruntlement, he declares as if giving an order:
"Whatever. Don't go 'blessing' anyone like that anymore, me included. Just make your prayers from afar or whatever it is that you do."
She shrinks under his half scolding and half annoyed glare, but suddenly gets up and remembers what she wanted to ask in the first place.
"Ed… Can we go here…?" she points at the exposition notice in the newspaper. "How did they put the statue here? Is it magic?"
"It's a picture, like a portrait or engraving of the statue, but printed on paper." he doesn't even bother questioning how she doesn't know it anymore "And I already told you I don't have time for that today." he snorts in disregard.
Before they notice, it is morning, the rays of sunlight invade the room. A ringing from his phone stops the conversation, it is one of the staffers calling him to talk about the repair schedules of the day in his apartment.
"I will be out for most of the day, but someone else will be in the house." He ends the call and casts a glance at Zara. "Some people will come to repair the damage on the glass, you should stay out of their way. Just let them work and don't cause problems. Now, if you would be nice and leave my room, I need to prepare for my appointments..."
"Ed won't be here…?" her brows curl in worry. "But… Ed, this is important! Please!"
The priestess doesn't want to go without protests, she calls out for Ed and swings the newspaper. He huffs in annoyance and frowns at her with a harsh, collected tone:
"I said it's not important now. It is just a random exposition, I won't waste my time with it, I have other things to do. I don't think you'll find anything valuable there anyways… We should focus on other important matters, but that can be discussed later when I have time."
Witnessing his stubbornness, she gives up, looking forlornly as he diverts his attention to his own routine, ignoring the whole talk they just had. Back to her room, she sits on the bed, feeling lonely and not knowing what to do next.
She casts a glance at the newspaper she brought with her, placing it beside the new dress she put aside while checking all the bags of clothes. Meanwhile, with everything settled, Ed takes his ride to his next duel scheduled.
In the car, the driver takes a peek at the master through the front mirror. The pro duelist supports his face on one of the hands, but he switches his glance to the front, feeling watched. The man clears the throat nervously and continues driving, he has known Ed since his debut, they'd been seeing each other for some time by now and he was used to his boss temper.
"What is it? Do you have anything to say?"
"Phoenix-sama, to tell the truth… Something has been bothering me."
"Just spill it all out. Was there any problem at the agency or is someone making prank calls again?" he closes his eyes, sighing out of boredom, why did he have to deal with such problems too?
"No. It is not that, Phoenix-sama. It is about that girl."
"You mean Zara…? What about her? Did she do something odd again?"
His posture changes, he looks at the eyes of the driver using the front mirror, with a hint of worry and curiosity in face. The man gulps nervously.
"Phoenix-sama, you may know each other for a long time. But since you brought the girl in, there have been some rumors..."
"What kind of rumors? And who is spreading it?"
"People from the building, they saw you taking the girl to her room and were all confused. Phoenix-sama, you never brought anyone home, but suddenly you brought a young lady. Are her origins known to you or is she a relative, Phoenix-sama? They were worried about you."
"What do you mean 'worried'? She is as harmful as an ant." his brows frown profusely.
"This is how it may look to you, but other people have misjudgements. She is not a relative of yours, neither has any sort of connection to your family. On top of not knowing her origins, she was wounded when you brought her to your apartment in which you decided to live completely on your own… Just think about it, Phoenix-sama, people are bound to talk about it, especially because you are still young."
"You're saying this may affect my public image…?" he ponders for a second, a hand on his chin.
"Yes, I am afraid so. I know Phoenix-sama must have his reasons and harbours no ill intentions, but not everyone would agree with me, the lady is fully healed and seems to be doing well. Wouldn't it be better perhaps to send her back to her family? There is no reason for the lady to be living in your quarters if there is no connection between you two. Please, think about it."
"She has no reasons…?" he sneers mentally. Listing at least 5 he can think of like not being able to take care of herself.
It is true he never explained anything to anyone else, he had problems understanding it too and even now he is unsure of her origins or how she will affect his destiny. Nonetheless, he is intrigued by her words and all she told him. He can't just ditch her anywhere and pretend nothing ever happened, not after he heard all about world destruction, even if he doesn't fully comprehend, plus…
The more he remembers the state she was in when they met and how that card spirit came after her life, he can't come to the decision of abandoning her cause right now. As annoying and unreasonable as she can be, it is not fair on his eyes to simply ignore that she might have connections to the destiny of the world, he needs to see it through to the end.
The driver is still correct about people having wrong impressions, though, and that is the last of the problems he needs in his career right now. But in which way can he solve this? It's not like she can go back to her world right now with assassins waiting to reap her life, but she has no other place.
Maybe he could arrange some rented apartment? As soon as he visualizes it in his imagination, all he can think about is her causing all sorts of problems, getting confused and more of those card spirits coming after her on top of not having a clue of how to take care of herself.
Or he can lie and say she is an assistant? No, no way people would believe that, right? She looks more like someone that needs to be assisted rather than the other way around. An apprentice? No, that also wouldn't work, they'd not buy the excuse of someone that thinks duels happen with stone tablets would be a duelist, not even a low level one.
He also can't pretend she is a distant blood relative, every single magazine already knows about his family and the reason he was adopted by DD to begin with was not having any other relatives in the world.
A deep frown forms in between his brows, there is no way she can live alone in this world without assistance, sending her away from his home is out of the question. If she's gonna be chased by those guys, he'd need to be there to duel, plus keeping an eye closely is the best conclusion he can come to no matter what.
He can't afford to lose his concentration in the matches, so he summarizes his thoughts and changes his focus.
Meanwhile, at the apartment, wind blows from outside. The room the priestess should be in is empty, and the glass door that leads to the balcony is open. Her newly bought dress is still on the bed as if it was never taken and the sheets of the newspaper rustle.
The rooms are empty and the courteous staff members take care of the maintenance. Outside the building, Zara hovers over the ground, upon landing softly, the concrete below her feet feels cold. She casts a glance at the top floor of the building, from where she jumped from and floated, unnoticed by the busy eyes of passersby.
A sorrowful shade comes into her eyes. Where is she? Which world is that? And why is it so different? The constructions, the people, their garments and ways of speaking and behaving. A multitude of new sights she has never seen. She feels her powers have become weaker. Is this variety of voices blocking her powers? Or is it this world?
What is her purpose here in the end? Ed Phoenix still has nightmares and keeps talking as if he knows the unraveling of destiny, he has confidence, but his anger consumes him from inside, the sadness, the hatred, he is indignant with this world.
"Have the gods really forsaken me…?" she puts a hand to her pained heart.
She needs an answer of what she must do, but for that she may need to go out to that strange building called "museum". Crumpling a sheet of the newspaper she ripped apart, she gulps looking at the picture of the exposition. With a prayer, she looks around, without a hint of what to do.
Her trip around the city starts, she asks people where to go to arrive at the place and bothers them, some smile, some others just disdain her questions. Her journey continues.
After a long day of work, Ed drops by Saiou's place, unaware that the man had his own plans and sets off to the duel academia. He searches through the white, empty corridors to find no one there. A puzzled expression forms on his face.
"He is not here…? This is strange..."
As soon as he steps out of the place, he calmly rides back home. Entering the building with a sour mood. The maintenance staff leaves the place, ending the repairs of the day, it's still not fully completed, but at least part of the broken glass was substituted.
"I wonder how she didn't cause any trouble. I'd figure she'd appear in front of the staff and make a ruckus with her priestess talk..."
A sensation of voidness fills his interior as he walks around the apartment. It is strange, there is something off. He checks on the room she should have been, it's empty, maybe she is in the bathroom?
He also checks there, but she is nowhere to be seen. A panicky feeling starts rushing in his blood. Where did she disappear to? He searches every room, opens every door, but she is not anywhere.
"Where is she?!"
The nervousness causes a reaction on his usually collected expression, his eyes moving frantically right and left, as if he was about to find it out, but was missing the last clue. Without more words, he goes into her room again, opening the door in a hurry and looking around.
Then he notices the dress she should've changed into is prettily standing on the bed, untouched. The balcony door is open and the pages of the newspaper on her bed flutter. His feet take him there and his hands slowly grab the newspaper sheets, he skims through them.
"It's missing... The page of the exposition..."
His mind is fast on the results of the investigation, he runs towards the balcony and scans the surroundings, she is nowhere to be seen, the only logical conclusion is the ground, but there is also nothing there besides passersby.
He crumples the papers, reminding himself how she asked him multiple times to go and he ignored it as a whim of hers. In part, guilty for not giving it attention when she urged him to. If he could understand it was that important for her, he'd just have set some time aside today. He thought she'd wait, but he was not clear enough on his words.
"Ugh, since when did she leave?"
He clicks his tongue, creasing the newspaper more, and stomping down to the ground floor, calling his driver in a rush. The man feels the urgency on his voice:
"Drive on all possible routes that lead to the museum right now! After we've checked them, we are stopping there!"
As the car rides the trajectory, she finally arrives there at the museum. Gloomy clouds hovering above and hiding the iminent sunset. The construction is enormous, like a palace, her heart feels frightened upon the sight, what will she find there?
Among the many people giving tickets, she mingles in the crowd, almost enchanted by the scenario and enters without being checked.
People are distracted with the exposition, but some take a look at her and whisper, she casts a glance at them and they immediately avert their gaze. True that Ed also seemed shocked with her clothes back then. Her scars are covered by a choker, bracelets and anklets, and her own hair, so it should be fine. Still, they look at her with judgement in their eyes.
Once she steps into the main room of the exposition, her orbs are enthralled by the mesmerizing giant stone tablet. It has hieroglyphs written all over and she can read all of it. It is protected by a dome, she touches the glass, but a guard reprimands her:
"Hey! You can't touch it!"
She recoils her hand, scared, some people look at her with disapproval and she can hear some snickers, ashamed she retreats herself to another part of the exposition. In the middle of the crowd, she catches a glimpse of a familiar figure.
Without a second to ponder about it, she rushes towards him, a man with the same clothes as the guards from the Pharaoh's temple. Desperately reaching her hand to his shoulder, she pulls the man, tugging him back.
"Father!"
Her smile and exclamation tone down as she sees the unknown face of that person, she again steps back in fear, not recognizing him.
"What are you saying? Is this girl fine?"
"I don't know, she seems to be cosplaying some card like us."
"She just called you father!"
"What is this creeper doing?"
He looks at another man that is dressed the same, she holds her hand back, feeling lost in the situation. Why was he dressed like that? She can feel all the eyes on her. It was like this in her homeworld too.
Those eyes full of disgust and malice in their tips, they drip poison and it slips into her ears. Because of her features, she was always treated as a stranger, a no one that came for a far away land, the slave priestess that was lucky to be beckoned by the gods even if she did not deserve it. Even after training to be a priestess, the other maidens would often punish her for no apparent reason, under the pretext of not knowing anything. She could not comprehend that jealousy, but she suffered under it.
Even now she still can't understand, she can't understand why everything is so different and what she must do. Why did she not get any signal? Why are her powers not working properly? Who are all those people with their judgemental glances?
In a burst of emotions, she runs to another room, opening the closed door, it is darker and has less people in it. There is a light in the middle, on a glass case that displays a deck. Scrutinizing the surroundings, she finds no one else but herself in there. With a sigh of relief, she approaches the glass.
Her eyes are bewitched by the cards inside, putting a hand to the glass, to feel it. Unlike what she expected, those cards just made her more confused. They were a mix of guards, gravekeepers and egypt-like servants, one of them looked exactly like what she remembered of her father.
Her eyes open wide in panic, her blood flows violently and her heartbeats accelerate. She stumbles a step back and falls to the ground. Using her arms to walk back.
"Father…? Why is my father there..?" her terror increases, she gets up and slams the glass. "Father? How were you put in there, father!"
Did he have his soul sealed in there? It can't be, she saw her father dying with her own eyes, yet, his body disappeared before she noticed. Is it possible he is still somewhere? It can't be. Her eyes flicker in anguish looking at the card.
She is frozen when the door of the room is opened with a bang. Security guards arrive, they shout at her, one of them grabs her arm and reprimands her:
"This area is not open for visitors yet!"
"Who is she and what is she doing? She looks like she is cosplaying some random card."
"I don't know, maybe a fan."
He drags her away, she struggles, stretching one of her hands towards the glass case, with tears in her eyes.
"Don't be resistant, come with me..."
He forces even more, the other guard prepares to call even more people to take her out, but someone else comes in the room, surprising everyone. The gray-haired duelist pants while gesturing.
"Wait a moment! She is with me!"He shows VIP tickets, one of the guards comes and checks it, raising a brow.
He turns around and quickly contacts someone, but as soon as he hears the person on the other side, a polite smile appears on his face and he raises the hand to the companion to let her go. He releases his grip and she falls to the ground.
"Y-You're welcome, Ed Phoenix-sama. I apologize for our rudeness."
"Can you give us a minute?"
The security guards exchange a glance and nod going outside at his request, closing the door. He can finally take a deep breath, even though that is not enough to contain his annoyance. He walks in her direction, stopping right in front, he can hear her hiccups from the crying.
"What are you doing here? Why did you have to come and cause trouble? I knew immediately as soon as I arrived that a troublemaker could only be you. You are lucky I came in time, they would've taken you away..." his tone is calm, but severe.
"Ed… my father..." she points at the glass case "Is there… Someone must have sealed him there."
"Your father…? What are you talking about…?"
He comes closer to the lighted glass, it is nothing but the display of a deck open for exposition. His vision scans all the cards, then stops at a particular card.
"The executioner of the Pharaoh…?"
His dark-blue eyes open wide, that card had the exact same appearance as the man he dueled in the strange realm, the one that intruded his apartment. His hand slides down the glass, his mind connecting the pieces.
The father that is not her real one, the way he panicked when she dreamed of another world and how that man had the same appearance as the spirit he dueled. All along he wondered why she was so strange, where she'd come from and right now she is saying her father is a card…? Is she even aware of that…?
"Zara, your father can't be here…"
"No, he is here! Look!" She points at the card "Egyptian mercenary".
Her face retracts utter despair as she breaks down in tears, her eyes that used to have a gleam of hope before are completely void. A drop of sweat rolls down his face, he can't understand what is going on either, but having her crumble like this won't do any good to either of them.
"That can't be your father! You said he died, you saw it with your eyes, right?!" He shouts confidently.
"I…" she puts her hands to her head, trying to think hard about it "I did…"
"Then, this can't be him! It must be someone similar or just a portrait. You need to get a hold of yourself."
Putting his hands on her shoulders to assure her, he tries to reverse the tense situation, her gaze is directed to him, but her mind is not looking at him.
"Why… Is my father's image there? And why is a manuscript of my people here? I don't understand… I don't…"
"I also don't understand, but isn't this the reason you wanted to find it out? We need to be calm to figure it out, you're getting nowhere by stressing or crying over it…"
She lowers her eyes, he relaxes his posture, his eyes showing a slight hint of concern and pity for her. This time, he grabs her wrist again and pulls her towards the exit.
"We shouldn't be talking about it here, let's go home first…"
He walks ahead of her, but halts by feeling she is not moving, even though he tries to bring her along, flabbergasted, he turns around.
"I don't know anymore… What did I come here for? We were chased by an executioner… I feel like my powers are slipping away from me… It's almost as if I can't speak to the gods anymore… Were my visions wrong all along…? Am I really meant to be here? No matter how much I try, Ed is always angry at me… I can't understand anything…"
As she sobs rubbing her own eyes, his hand instinctively opens, still hovering around her wrist. He should've noticed it before, shouldn't he? He is so smart, yet he lets it reach this point. What a clever young man he is.
"I am angry at her…? No, I didn't mean to…" he is alone in his thoughts, denying it for the sake of his consciousness.
It should have been obvious. She used to live in some ancient place, and then, suddenly dreams about the world's destruction, among all the other problems she had, she has left everything behind and everything she knew just for the sake of saving this world in which she is nothing but a stranger.
How overwhelmed she must have felt, even as she smiled back then. A feeling of guilt comes to his chest. He should've thought about it earlier, he was the one that nonchalantly brought her to the city after all.
A shadow covers his eyes, he clenches his teeth, annoyed at himself, then grabs her wrist even stronger, pulling her a bit, startling her.
"Listen, crying here won't help! You said you wanted to save this world, right?! Didn't you come here just for that?! You can't say those things lightheartedly and just give up in the middle of the way! Even if it's rough, you'll get nowhere if you keep giving up!"
"I…" she can't take her eyes off his fiery gaze. This is the first time he says words of encouragement rather than derision or natural annoyance.
"I don't have all the answers myself, but we will find it! It doesn't matter if people stand in our way, you want to change destiny, don't you? If you are not willing to even try, stop talking big! Even if you weren't meant to be here, now that you are, make something out of it! Instead of searching for reasons to not stay, think about what you can do! Don't be an idiot kneeling down your whole life! If you want reasons to stay, I'll give you some!"
With a last hiccup, her tears cease after being scolded by him, he turns around in a bitter and impatient mood. This time, she lets herself be dragged, her feet try to catch up with his fast, irritated stomping.
The glances of many people are cast unto them, she feels pressured by their confused stares and whispers, but she casts her own orbs towards the back of the one leading the way. For some reason, the sight of him reassures her.
While he walks, he sees flashes of cameras, people take pictures without his consent. He glares at them and speeds up the pace, it must have seemed to people as if he was dragging her against her will.
Outside the museum a strong rain pours down, it is already dark and the light poles show the raindrops clearly. He ignores the water and pulls her along, but stops when he feels she is falling to the ground, getting a better hold of her wrist and keeping her standing.
He finally turns around to look at her, she still seems perplexed and thoughtful, the rain has completely soaked her white clothes, upon the realization, he is startled and hurriedly takes off his blazer, putting it around her shoulders.
"Tsk, you're so bothersome. Wear this."
Not giving a second glance after she puts it, she follows his footsteps and they enter the car. At this point, some reporters are already coming towards them, he urges the driver to rush out of there.
"They certainly took pictures, but I will deal with it later…" he closes his eyes with an irritable expression.
She sits beside him, her orbs drift to a different plan of existence, diving deep in thought. At least she stopped crying and seems to consider the meaning of his words.
Back at the apartment
The sound of water constantly running is muffled in the room. Under the shower, Ed lets it run down him, his hair falls on his face, obscuring it. His thoughts are still in disarray.
He puts a hand to the wall of the shower room, frowning profusely as the memories come back to his mind, all the things in the museum, the first time they met, the man that broke all the glass of the rooms, the cards in display and how she fell to the bottom of despair after noticing the cards looked like the people she supposedly knows.
"It is not possible her father was really the spirit of a card, is it…? But that man was exactly like his card name too…Who in the world is her…? Or what is she…? Even if I keep hanging onto those questions… For now, it's better to thread carefully… This whole story is sounding very fishy..."
He remembers his own words and sighs, he really went all over ranting and lost his cool back then, it was definitely an embarrassing performance coming from him.
"The tabloids will be all over me if they took pictures of them at the museum… I guess I just need to convince them it doesn't matter for my professional career. But what do I do with you, Zara…?"
In the other room, the priestess still wears the wet clothes, the warm blazer he forfeited and her dress that is drenched in rain.
Her eyes waver, her mind is full of the scenes from that day, and from his words. Was it really not her father back there? And even if it was, how could this world be so unique and perplexing? Why would an object like that have portraits of all sorts of servants of the Pharaoh?
She couldn't hear an answer from the gods as she expected, instead, Ed gave her one. What he tried to tell her and what he wanted her to think about, she is making efforts to understand better. What is it that she can do even when she can't consult others or have any support from her people? What is it that she can still do while being weak?
With those doubts, she kneels and in a praying stance, her eyes close shut as she whispers her prayers. She can't see it, but just as she starts, a white, powerful aura surrounds her whole body. She spends the night like that.
As soon as morning comes, the sunlight coming through the unclosed gaps in his room bothers his eyes, forcing them open. The phone rings loudly, it makes him instantly sit on the bed and answer it quickly to stop the annoying tone.
"Yes… It's me… The papers…?"
He gets up fully, still in his pajamas, walking towards the entrance of the apartment, taking his newspaper and reading the articles related to duelists. Only a sight is enough to understand the problem, he expected that: a picture of him grabbing the wrists of a mysterious girl in more than unique clothes, her face blurred.
He slaps his own face, listening to the sermon of the other person on the side of the line with a mind set to not be enraged at them. After hearing the complaints and concerns, he sighs deeply and prepares to go out, before he is finished, he gets a call from his manager and friend.
"I will explain everything at your place, give me some time, Saiou."
Ending the call without much of a talk, he dresses in his full suit, looking at himself in the mirror, he puts up his strong face, prepared for all the bombardment of questions and answers he was about to deal with.
When he passes by her room, he has the sensation he could feel a tranquil, yet intense presence coming from there. His brows twist in puzzlement, it didn't seem like any harmful aura. Shaking off his head, he ignores it, unaware the presence he felt was none other than Zara's overflowing power.
His manager's place is more silent than usual. He can hear his own footsteps echoing eerily in the corridor. As soon as he opens the door, he can see the back of his friend. There is no greeting between them.
"Ed, I suppose you've seen the latest news about you…" he shuffles the cards patiently, his tone never becoming louder or authoritarian, always placid.
"Yes. I'd wish to have those taken out of the newspapers…"
"The sponsors called me worrying you might be getting yourself into trouble."
"What do your predictions say?"
"Nothing. I told you before, you'll face a choice, now it is time for you to choose. Regardless, it will not affect your career as a duelist."
He ponders for a moment, his gaze lingers on the ground, and then, he raises his face, in a resolved tone, declaring with confidence:
"If it is like that, then I inform you I have decided that for all public purposes and intents, she is my fiancée."
"Oh…" he smirks, "I am surprised to hear that, both as your manager and as a friend. I was unaware you had someone you held dear in your heart."
"I don't. Due to certain circumstances, I am keeping an eye on her. But to avoid troubles, tell the sponsors it is true I am in a relationship, that she is my fiancée and I wouldn't like to have it announced to the whole world and I'd appreciate it if they can keep it low for now, I want privacy. I prefer my private and professional life to be separated, this is why I have been keeping it a secret. Moreover, the female fanbase would be driven crazy if they know I am engaged, right? It is also profitable for them to keep it under the rug."
"Interesting choice, I must say. Even with this, the cards don't lie, your path is still that of victory…" his smirk enlarges with the cards he draws, showing the future.
"If I don't lose my duels, can the sponsors really complain at my request?"
"I will talk to them. You can go now. But keep yourself and your beloved 'fiancée' away from the eyes of the media for now. That said, I will rearrange your schedules for the next few days. Stay home."
The irony in his tone in pronouncing the word "fiancée" had bad vibes, Ed could feel something underneath his smirk, frowning upon it. He leaves with further addends.
Saiou draws a last card after he is gone, his eyes squint in malice, his lips open even more in a creepy smile. The card is a high priestess, upwards.
"I see… This card was never Ed to begin with… This is an interesting development… What will you do, Ed? You've gotten your hands on a very intriguing piece."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
presea221: thanks for the review! We're getting more and more info about Zara's world, and there is also Ed's decision at the end of this chapter. Now Saiou's got his eyes on Zara too which could be dangerous for them. I like the subtlety of Ed's personality in the anime, I wanted to have that part of him in the fic too. And yes, the time stopped in the shadow duels and Ed is smart enough to figure that, right? He's gonna pinch it all together!
ToBlazePurple: I didn't know there were crosses to bear in writing fics XD. Well, all I can say is the story is not about duels, it's a romance/family/slice of life, dueling is certainly not the focus here and there are better stories for that out there. This is not a dueling adventure fanfic and people should be aware of that from the genre/description the story was published with. It will have a short description or full description of cannon duels, though.
